A new Beginning
by Delete this account admin
Summary: Louise of the Zero, who is not able to use magic correctly, leaves everyone astounded as she summons a human in heavy armor. Will the summoned, forcefully dragged out of his dying world, be able to shed his blood for a world that repeats the same mistakes as his old one?
1. A New Beginning

**Greetings!**

 **Before I explain anything let me throw out a disclaimer: I do not own neither Familiar of Zero nor Fallout. I'm just another random writer on this forum.**

 **Yes! Finally made my awesome entrance. Go me!**

 **Now, where should I start? As you can obviously see I'm writing a crossover covering Fallout and Familiar of Zero. I'll be honest to you folks, I'm probably not a good writer. This is my first fan-fic and the fact that english is not my native language leads probably to grammatical errors here and there. And other mistakes, forgive me in advance for them.**

 **There's another point I'd like to mention. When you talk about Fallout you instantly think about the Sole Survivor or the other protagonists of the Fallout franchise. While I will be using its content here and there the protagonist of this story is not connected to any of these games. It's a character I thought up, which means that I wasn't all too sure if I should count this as a fallout crossover. Share your thoughts on this matter.**

 **Another note before I release you from this endless torture of mine, even if this very first chapter makes you puke and you are sure that you won't read any more of it; at least tell me what exactly you disliked so I can improve things and actually make progress.**

 **I guess that's enough for now. Let's start this!**

* * *

War ... war never changes. Humanity, since its very beginning, carried the fate to become the dominant lifeform on earth. What started as a primitive being evolved, after countless years, into the most powerful species.

Mankinds journey from the discovery of fire to the conquering of the sky was a long one. What started as a survival of the fittest turned into planned mass murder. Ages of years ago man battled predators to ensure it's survial, and millions of years later, in the year 2020 on the Gegorian calendar, mankind threw itself into doom.

Nobody knew where they came from or who unleashed them, and it did not matter. People have known them from made up stories, TV series and movies, the subject was so well discussed that science, in the end, proved it to be impossible. Zombies.

In the year 2020 however someone unleashed the impossible upon the world, and death itself purged all life that it could find. It started with only a single infected human being, but after the host of the virus died, it rose again as an undead. Only _one_ of those beings was needed to infect a whole city, and later the country. Governments and armies failed, scientists could not produce a cure and the virus continued to spread over the whole world.

Decisions had to be made and humanity had only two choices; to do nothing and die, or to use the most powerful weapon on it's disposal.

The population of the world could only stare into the sky as nuclear warheads made their way to the ground. Three hours, that was the amount of time which was needed to destroy the world as humans knew it. Infrastructure collapsed, soil turned barren and those who weren't killed by the impact were contaminated and killed by radiation.

And even though the world was in chaos, purged by nuclear fire, mankind preserved. An old world has died, and a new one has risen from it's ash.

The people who kept on living, as if fate mocked them, followed into the footsteps of their ancestors. The collapse of the world, lack of food and clean water urged them to give themselves into despair. The survival of the fittest, something the modern human disregarded because of modern technology, once again took it's place in the new world.

But not only humans underwent a procedure of change, many animals, exposed to extreme radiation, turned into grotesque and dangerous monsters.

Societies formed anew, but there was nothing left of the glory and elegance that humans left behind, only ruins. In this new world every day could be your last, every stranger your fierce enemy. Distrust was common place wherever you went, and freedom was but a word to people who had the bad luck to be caged and treated as slaves.

But hope was not completely lost. Somwhere, at some place a dim light fought against the darkness that threatened the world. As if inspired by this dying world people took action and tried to defend what could not defend itself. Not because they wanted to be heroes, they did it simply because they had enough of the anarchy that plagued the world.

Those people died fast, but every now and then a "warrior of justice" picked up his arms and marched right into hell to haunt the demons that plunged the world into chaos.

In a small town made out of junk there stood a single human surrounded by dead bodies. He never knew what excactly happened in this town, for when he arrived the population was already dead and the raiders were going through their loot. He could not save them, but the least he could do was to punish this scum that called themselves humans. And they died miserably.

"This neverending madness ..." he shook his head slightly in disbelief.

* * *

The sun rose and marked the beginning of yet another day. Only that this day was one of utmost importance. In the country of Tristrain nobles carried the ability to use magic, and to do so effictively their talents were nurtured at the Tristain Academy of Magic. And every mage, be it male, female, strong or weak, was bound to summon a familiar to aid him or her.

At this very Academy Louise, a young noblewoman, stood on the outer field of the acadamy and watched as her fellow students, one after one, summoned their familiar.

"Are you sure that you want to do this? It's even more shameful to _not_ accomplish the summoning ritual than not doing it." the red haired woman next to her said. Louise did not bother to look at her, Kirche Zerbst, this damn vixen, was always trying to catch her off guard and make fun of her, but she would not give her this satisfaction today. This red-haired devil could go to hell.

"If you are so concerned about shameful things you should hide those meatbags of yours" Louise took a quick glance at the red-haired woman.

"Oh? Aren't you just jelous that your chest is as useless as your "magic", Zero?" Kirche smiled as she watched the smaller woman turn around, pointing a finger at her. She knew that Louise hated it to be called a Zero because she wasn't able to cast any other magic than her "explosion", and that was enough reason for alle the students to call her "Louise of the Zero", or Zero in short.

"Shup up Zerbst! I'm a great mage and I'll summon the finest, strongest and best familiar there is!

"Truly"? Kirche smiled at here words, "Well, you have your audience already. Prove it to me, to _us_ that you are what you claim to be.

Louise turned around and saw her fellow classmates watching her. Of course she catched everyones attention with this proclamation, and nobody believed she could summon anything at all. When it was her turn for the ritual she stepped a few steps aside and held her wand in the air.

"Please let me succeed, just this once!" she thought before she started chanting.

* * *

As he focused his gaze on the trail of death the raiders left behind, wondering if he could have prevented this slaugher if he would have been only a little bit faster, a voice of a young female resonated in his head.

"My servant that exists somewhere in this universe!" His gaze wandered through the area, searching for the girl the voice belonged to.

"My divine, beautiful, and powerful familiar!" He could hear the voice loud and clearly, but his eyes could not find anything. He knew that nobody in that Junktown was alive, was he finally going insane? All the deaths must have taken a toll on his mind, maybe it was a girl he was not able to save?There were far too many of them ...

"I wish and assert from the bottom of my heart for you to answer my guidance!

A second later after the chant was finished an explosion greeted her like an old friend. Between the coughs, caused by the smoke, she could hear the other students cursing her name, and again Louise cast her eyes down asking herself why she had to be the one without proper magic abilities.

A scream brought her back into reality as she saw the boy that stood next to her fall down out of surprise whilst pointing in her direction. He was not exactly terrified, and it was not the first time for her to cast an explosion, so she turned around to see what the hell surprised him.

Louise's eyes widened in surprise as she saw a sort of ... golem in front of her. Golems were not that uncommon in Tristain, but this one was ... different. Had she summoned something like a moving armor? It certainly looked like one, allthough she had to admit that she had never seen something like that before. The golem ... or armor? Louise did not know how to call it, was painted in a lifeless grey and had probably witnessed many battles, or so she thought. At least it looked like it has seen the battlefield before. Louise was not all too sure what to think about this, but ... she did not fail! She summoned something, even if it was a golem of some sort, the details didn't matter!

"What the hell is this"? She could hear the people murmor behind her back, not believing what they saw. Louise did not care, it was her familiar, wether he, she or it was alive was not of importance. But yet again her thoughts were interrupted by the panicking crowd, the golem was moving and nobody could trust something that was summoned by the Zero.  
It's moves were smooth for a construct, and as it reached its head ... which, in fact, was more like a helmet, nobody could believe their eyes; the golem Louise summoned, the lifeless construct turned out to be ... human.

Without the helmet a face was revealed. A rather young man, not even in his thierties, with his brown hair and green eyes, stared down at the little girl with the pink hair. The determination in his gaze was intimidating and yet asking.

* * *

Before he knew it the barren land around him disappeared, and he found himself ... where exactly? He was used to sudden developments, but this was something he has never experienced before. Could this be a dream? It certainly did not look real, the grass, the tall building ... these _people_. Everything looked so ... so alive. Small boys and girls, wearing strange clothes, holding some kind of sticks in their hand. It had to be a dream. There was nothing like that in reality, _nothing_ was left.

It didn't look like they were in apparent danger, so he took off his helmet to breath in the air. To evade the radiation he had to filter the air through his helmet, but ... something urged him to ignore it this time. Freed from his restraints, at least partly, he quickly took in the air in his lungs. It was ... fresh. Even more so than what his helmet provided. After a moment passed for him to collect his thoughts his gaze met a small girl with pink hair. She looked at him curiously and anxious at the same time, a look he got every so often.

"Poor child ..." he thought as he got on one knee to not appear as a giant, and his armor really made him look _big_.

Louise did not know who he was, but that was not important. Before her stood ... or kneeled her summoned familiar. The girl knew that the ritual has yet to be completed, so she started chanting again; "My name is Louise Francoise Le Blanc de La Valliere. Pentagon that rules the five powers, bless this individual and ... make him my familiar!

The man had no time to react, only to think. He was not able to understand the words she spoke nor did he know what he hell was happening, but after she finished her ... speech she took another step forward and gave him a kiss. To be kissed by a girl was nothing new to him, but what he _did_ feel was a burning sensation on his left hand. And with this, his new fate was sealed.

In a different world to begin anew.

* * *

 **Can't believe I did it! My very first chapter! Meet you folks in the bar, next round is on me.**

 **Seriously now, it went a** _ **little**_ **better than I expected. Don't want to brag now obviously. Maybe on the next chapter. But do tell me what you liked and especially what you did** _ **not**_ **like, I'll try to adapt as good as I can.**

 **That's it for this one, see you on the next chapter!**


	2. Starting From Scratch

The confused look her familiar gave her urged Louise to take a step back. Even though it was "just" a ritual, something every mage on this academy had to do, it was her first kiss nontheless. A little bit embarrassed over this fact she took in a deep breath to calm herself. She had stolen everyone's gaze with her summoning, the insults she suffered would finally be nothing more than a bad memory and Louise would certainly _not_ ruin this very moment by acting like a child. The fact that her familiar was human complicated things, but Louise had no problem to adapt to her new situation.

"The summoning ritual was completed with the kiss" the girl said, which in turn, turned the tense atmosphere that surrounded the familiar into pure curiosity.

"You should feel the runes burning into you, they give you an understanding of our language and act as proof that you are the familiar I summoned." The familiar continued his silence for a few seconds until he began to smile, and in the end, to laugh. The students around them chuckeld over the responce of Zero's familiar. She was his master but even her _servant_ did not take her serious. The name "Zero" once again resonated in the head of Louise, which resulted in her losing her temper steadily. The summoned, not believing what she told him, stopped his laughter and looked at the other students. Certainly, this was the first time he had experienced a dream in such detail, in fact, it was the first dream _in a long time._

His attention once again fell on the girl that stood before him. Something seemed to irritate her, allthough he had no clue what it was. What caused this hallucination, dream or whatever it may be? He was all too sure that -

"Are you listening to me?!" the girl interrupted his thought process while clenching her fists. Whoever he was and wherever he came from, she was his _master_ and would not get ignored by him.

"I am listening, even though I do not know what is happening right now. Who are you and where ... _what_ is this place? Louise sighed relieved, her familiar was not some primitive without the ability to speak after all.

"My name is Louise Francoise Le ..."

"I have not forgotten your name, girl, there is no need to repeat it." he interrupted her with a stern expression on his face. "I want to know _who_ you are. You mentioned something about a ritual and me being a familiar."

Louise smiled as she realized that this man was not as dumb as she feared him to be.

"You are at the Academy of Magic, in the country of Tristain. The reason you are here is because ..." the girl continued to explain him his current situation, but frankly, he had no idea what she was talking about. He knew what magic was supposed to be since he grew up in the old human world, but he had never heared the country called Tristain or "Halkeginia", the continent they were supposed to live on.

Louise sent out a silent prayer of thanks to father Brimir in heaven for giving her the opportunity to _finally_ get things straight, her familiar on the other hand slowly realized that his mind could not make up this ... strange world. He knew nothing of it, and as far as his knowledge on this matter went the human brain was simply not able to create dreams of things it had never seen before. It was irrational and he'd have blaimed alcohol or drugs if it weren't for the fact that he did not consume these things, but the only conclusion his mind could come up with was ... that this was really happening.

"Did you understand everything?" his mind shifted its attention back to her. A quick thought of returning to his own world passed through his mind, only to be replaced by a very important detail; the beauty of this place.

It looked alive, and even though he was not an old man he had his fair share of life threatening experiences. The only thing that made him hesitate to accept all of this were the people he had left behind. How many would die because he was not there anymore? What would happen to his brothers and sisters in arms, people who shared his will to fight the injustice of the world?

"You look troubled, is something the matter?" the pink haired girl asked him, which once again interrupted his thoughts."

"To put it briefly together, I'm in a world where magic exists, you are such a mage and summoned me as a familiar to do your bidding?"The girl only nodded as an answer. She knew that it basically meant to be a servant, but the ritual was completed, and there was nothing he could do about it. She was his master, and he her familiar.

"Is there a way to send me back?" he asked the obvious and Louise could only sigh at the question.

"There is no way to break the bond that connects us. You are bound to me and this world, and only death can release you." the Familiar crossed his arms in defiance obiously displeased with her answer.

"Which means that I am to live as your "familiar" until one of us meets his end. Can't say I'm eager to be a slave."

"A familiar is not a slave!" Louise shot back, irritated by the fact that this man, her _familiar_ talked with her like that. "Forget it. There is no use in getting angry over it, you are my familiar and that's it.

Louise turned around and fixed her eyes on the teacher that supervised the summoning ritual. A bald man with a long, purple robe and a wodden staff in his hand met her gaze. Professor Colbert, as Louise recalled, was a fire mage that, for some reason, decided to teach others the way of magic. The scars on his face, barerly visible, told stories of the battlefield, even if the professor himself never admitted such a thing.

"Professor Colbert, I've completed the ritual. Is there any reason for me to stay any longer?" The bald teacher nodded in approval.

"There is none. The students, after they summon their familiars, are to take care of their summoned ones and, if it proves necessary, educate them in order for them not to disturb neither students nor classes. You are hereby dismissed, Miss Valliere.

Louise bowed to express her gratidude and grabbed the right hand of her familiar before she marched through the other students. Allthough this world seemed to be quite peaceful the summoned one was not eager to start his new life as a slave. But he had to eat to stay alive, and not knowing what kind of dangers one could encounter in these lands urged him to tag along with the girl, for now at least.

Kirche simply watched as the two of them left the scene and licked her lips. She had found a new toy to play with, and with her charms she simply _knew_ that this man could not resist her.

* * *

Half a hour later Louise and her Familiar arrived at the door to her room.  
Louise came to the conclusion that it would have been pathetic if her familiar could not navigate through the school on his own, so she showed him around. Of course Louise did not want nor was she able to muster enough willpower to show him every room there was. The important ones, like the cafeteria and the classrooms were basically the only ones he got to see, even though she promised him to give him a more detailed tour when they had more time. Preparations for the ritual took some time, and given the fact that Professor Colbert did not want them to rush this special event the students _took_ their time to make sure that everything went as smooth as possible. Or in short, they tried to evade having _too_ much time left in order to not get homework or other stressfull tasks.

Louise unlocked the door and entered her room, these four walls were like a sanctuary to her where she could find inner peace and forget the venomous words of those imbeciles she had to call classmates. She sat down on her bed and waited for her familiar to go through the door, which he did not.

"Brimir help me ... whats wrong?" the young noblewoman asked slightly annoyed.

Her familiar took a quick glanze at the room; it wasn't cramped and could be described as spacious, but he still got a bad feeling about staying in this room. There were no defenses and no corners where you could hide from a bullet storm. You'd be pretty much dead if someone decided to throw a grenade at you, even though it seemed like there were no modern weapons in this world.

"It is nothing." realising that her patience with him would not be endless, and the fact that he'd rather not rely on hunting to sustain himself he entered the room and closed the door behind him.

"You look tired. I don't know what you went through until now, but you should get some sleep. Tomorrow we'll have to find out what you can do, otherwise we'll be the laughingstock of the nation." the last part piqued his curiosity as he placed his helmet on the ground.

"Enlighten me, Louise" her familiar said as he started to line up his belongings on the ground. "Because I have no idea what you are talking about."

Before Louise could explain what would happen in a few days she caught herself glaring at his possessions. There wasn't much her familiar brought along, but the things he _had_ with him made her curious. There were four vials with a red substance in it, on one end of the vial she could see a rather thick needle and on the other one something like ... a scale? Louise could make out the colors green, yellow and red allthough she had no clue what they represented.

Aside from the vials there was a heater shield, dyed in the color black with barerly visible red lines that resembled veins or something of the like. Could it be that this man was a knight before? He had his armor and his shield, the only thing that was missing right now was his sword.

"Are you a knight by any chance?" Louise asked with a curious look on her face. Her familiar stopped staring at his belongings and turned to look at her. "In my world knights were a relic of the past, I was just ... never mind. It is of no importance. Why do you ask?"

Louise pointed at his shield and began to explain "You certainly are a strange one, but not a brute. Your shield ... especially the armor you're wearing doesn't look like the cheap things mercenaries carry arround. Only knights are as well equipped as you are. Allthough you're missing a sword.

Her familiar chuckled on these words and picked something up. Louise's first thought was that she had absolutely no idea what he was showing her. After a few moments she could recognize a stock, similar to the ones crossbows had, and a trigger. Above the trigger was a crank which led her to the conclusion that this thing was a weapon, and had to be charged before it could be used. Allthough she couldn't even imagine _what_ it fired.

"This is the magic of my world, with this you can burn your enemies. Or cook your meal if you're desperate. It's called "laser rifle" her familiar looked at her amused as she had a hard time figuring out if he was mocking her. How could this ... this _thing_ be called magic?

"You claim to be a mage then?" whatever answer she imagined to get from him, to be laughed at was _certainly_ not what she expected.

"No, I'm not a mage. But never mind the details, I'll show you tomorrow what my world was able to produce. It's getting late, and as you already mentioned I'm tired. One more thing ..." he placed his so-called weapon on the ground, next to his other belongings. "I wish to take a bath, it has been far too long since the last time I had the opportunity"

Louise simply shrugged her shoulders at his request "Do it then. After you leave the room turn to the right. Follow the way until you see a double door on the left, it's the bath for males. I'll warn you just this once, don't even _try_ to take a peek at the girls." giving her an insulted glance his armor hissed before the backside of it opened itself and the summoned one stepped out before it closed itself again. The glance his so-called master gave him made it obvious that she was truly fascinated by it.

"So that's how you use it. I've never seen someone leaving his armor like that before."

Her familiar, amused by her honest curiosity smiled as he left the room.  
Louise, who did not even know the name of her familiar, made a mental note to ask him as soon as he returned.

As soon as he left the room the familiar turned to the right, as instructed, and started to march through the hallway. Even though this world did not share the same technology as his old one he had to admit that their "magic" was impressive. The hallway was illuminated by ... he did not really know what the lights on the walls were made of, but it was surerly the work of magic. Leaving his armor and weapon behind made him slightly uncomfortable, but the chance to finally get rid of all the blood, dirt and sweat was just too good to pass up. After a couple of minutes later he finally found the double door Louise had explained to him.

While he opened the door he sensed someone watching him from afar. He knew that a life full of violence and murder could turn a man paranoid, but his instincts had never failed him when it counted. Entering the bath he took two steps to the side, crossed his arms and waited for his pursuer to enter the room. Only that nobody came.

"My people were at least honest enough to try to kill me right away."  
he shrugged his shoulders and started to remove his clothes and shoes. Without his armor and especially his helmet, which filtered the air he breathed, the familiar started to notice his own smell again. In his world wasting water by taking a bath was pure madness. People were fighting for basically _everything_ , and if they suspected that you carried water on yourself desperation urged them to attack you. He did not despise these people, they simply wanted to survive, even though he could not agree with their methods. Which often led to their deaths. He wanted to save people, to make the world a better place even if it was only by a small degree. Nontheless there were many who seeked his death, driven either by hatred or desperation which left him no choice but to kill those all the same. But that was of no importance any longer, he left his world and the obligations along with it.

The summoned one threw his clothes into the water before entering it. There was no point in cleaning himself only to wear those foul-smelling clothes again. They were nothing fancy but the fact that there were still places where one could equip himself with clothes and shoes made his travels a little bit more bearable. Or, at least that's how it was until Louise "called" for him. After he accomplished the cleaning of his clothes he started to get rid of the blood and dirt that was stuck on him, a task that took up a considerable amount of time. Almost every wound he received healed, if you considered that he treated himself and was no doctor, rather good so there were no scars on him. Even his looks would have been considered as handsome if he'd have only taken care of them. But these things held little to none meaning to him, or at least that was the case before he was summoned into this world. Maybe he could live in peace now, court a woman or at least _enjoy_ life as it was. Frankly put he was someone that did not quite fit into his old, with chaos filled world.

"If this were to be a dream I'd rather never wake up again ..." finally getting rid of his tension he started to slumber.

* * *

He did not know how many hours had passed but after waking up again he felt rested. His mind, cleared of any bothersome thoughts, told him to get out of the water and so he did. The only thing that made him frown was the fact that he had forgotten to let his clothes dry.

"Great." he shook his head in disbelief "Even the god damn overcoat won't be of any use now."

Even though it was an enormous bother he grabbed his clothes and wrung the water out of them. Of course it was no solution for the problem but that way he could at least put on his clothes again, not being forced to run around naked. The summoned one, outfitted with wet black boots, wet brown pants, a wet grey shirt and a god damn wet black overcoat, left the bath and was instantly met by a cold breeze. Cursing his name and the fall of temperature he made his way back to Louise's room and recognized the rising sun through the windows on his right. It seemed like he had spent more time bathing than he had anticipated. After a couple of minutes later he could hear someone talking behind a corner, warily he stopped to strain his ears.

"I'm a pretty good cook, you know?" a female voice, a rather young one he thought.

"Oh how I'd like to try one of your meals my dear Katy!" a male voice answered. The summoned one, not interested in the conversation of two lovers went on on his way and took a quick glance at both of them. What he saw was a male with blond hair, wearing a black cape standing in front of a delicate girl. The summoned one did not know why everyone was wearing capes, as the girl had on of her own in the color of brown neither did he care. A few more minutes had passed before he arrived at Louise's room which he hastily entered. The difference in temperature was noticeable, even though he could not explain _why_ it was so warm in here. There was no fireplace either, so the only explanation he could come up with was, once again, magic.

He let out a weak sigh as he looked for his bed, and sighed again as he found it. Louise did not expect for her familiar to be human, at least the  
summoned one wanted to believe that as he saw that his bed was made out of hay. Displeased by this he grabbed his shield and mounted it on the chest plate of his armor. It was big enough to cover the places where one could find weak spots, but small enough not to restrict his movements.

"Louise." the summoned one fixed his gaze on her. "Wake up, it is time to achieve greatness."

The girl, murmuring something in her sleep turned around and simply ignored her familiar. Taking this as an excuse, he had done his best to wake her after all, the summoned one grabbed the four vials on the ground before entering his armor once again. He actually disliked to be constrained like this, but how often would he have died if it weren't for his personal cage? The summoned one, knowing that there were things he simply could not change, picked up his helmet and his laser rifle before finally leaving the room.

Outside he was greeted by a few male students. They did not _exactly_ greet him, in fact they were anxious as they saw him leaving the room of this school's Zero. His menancing looks urged them to step out of his way, taking this chance the summoned one walked past them.

"Did you see that? There's no way she would be able to summon something like _this_!" one of the students said after they thought to be alone while in fact the summoned one could hear them clearly thanks to his helmet.

"I know!" another one answered "I've never seen something like this before, it can't be real." The summoned one did not care enough to confront them and continued his way. His short jorney ended after he stepped out of the bilding where people were already gathered to ... enjoy the day it seemed. 

* * *

Tables and chairs werde placed everywhere, students were enjoying cups of what looked similiar to coffee accompanied by the strangest creatures.  
His gaze wandered through the area until he spotted an oversized red lizard with a god damn _flame_ on the end of its tail running at his direction. He had seen fire-ants burning flesh to a crisp and was not eager to be cooked in his armor. The summoned one wanted to take aim with his laser rifle whereupon Kirche, the red haired and well proportioned woman from yesterday stood in his way.

The summoned one, fearing for her life, attempted pull her behind him until the lizard stopped beside her and gave him a curious look. Kirche, simply petting the creature looked at him slightly amused.

"I have to admit" the woman gave him a seductive smile "I'm flattered by your attempt to save me from my familiar, my dear knight in shining armor."

With a weak sigh the summoned one took a step back and lowered his weapon. He should have known better. These students, every single one of them, had summond someone or something to serve them, it should have been no surprise that a big fire-salamander was running around.

"Where I come from people usually shoot before they ask _what_ was running in their direction. You should be more careful, Zerbst." feeling uncomfortable around her the summond one walked away.

Watching him as he went on Kirche bit her lips. This man had an unique attitude towards her and everything else, and even though she could not see his face her charms seemed not to work. A challenge, she thought.  
Finally a worthy prey to hunt.

Watching from afar the summoned one observed a maid as she clumsily spilled some juice over a male student while serving them their drinks.  
A harmless accident the summoned one thought, until the young male stood up in rage, ranting about honor and stupid things like these.

The maid, a young woman with shoulder-long black hair bowed and apologized to the student a couple of times in vain. As the summoned one drew closer he recognized the male, it was the same one he saw yesterday after his bath.

"Do you even know who my father is, servant? I'll make sure that you -" he stopped mid-sentence and watched as the moving armor stared down on him.

"What do you want? I do not have time for the likes of you." the summoned one could clearly see that this boy was already intimidated, but his pride wouldn't allow him to back down here.

"Just wanted to ask if you imbecile need some help with your attitude." the student with the blond hair looked at him in shock. He was a _noble_ , a mere familiar had no right to talk to him like that! There was no way in hell he would disgrace himself like that

"Do you know who I am? I am Guiche de Gramont. You will leave _now_ and I shall forget the lack of respect you've given me."

The summoned one looked at the frightened maid in front of him. He had read stories of the treatment of servants hundreds of years ago, and this Douchebag de Gramont looked like he would make her life a living hell if he were to back off now. Allthough he left his old world behind he could not change his thoughts on these matters. The girl had apologized often enough, there was no point in harrassing her any longer.

"Tell you what. _You_ will apologize to her for behaving like a prick and _I_ am the one who will let you go."

Whatever resolve was left in Guiche to let this idiot go away unharmed was overwritten by his hurt pride. A noble had the obligation to reclaim his honor when sullied. He would stomp this commoner into the ground, not giving him any mercy for what he had done.

"Fine then!" the noble declared "We will settle this in a duel, and if I win you will _pay_ for disgracing me in front of everyone."

"Fine by me" the summoned one answered "and when I win you will apologize to her and _never_ again treat her like that"

Around the two of them a crowd had gathered. They have never seen a commonor insulting a noble before, at least not as openly as this one did. Of course they already knew who would emerge victorious, a mere commoner could not win against a mage even if he was using armor.

"What in Brimirs name is going on here?!" Louise pushed herself through the crowed, standing now between the noble Guiche and her familiar. To see the two of them, surrounded by cheering students ... Louise knew exactly would happen now if she wouldn't intervene.

"So you've decided to watch as I strike your familiar down? Believe me I did not wish for this but I won't let him get away for what he has done."

Louise, irritated by this arrogant imbecile turned to her familiar. "What did you do to upset him so much you idiot?!" her familiar shrugged his shoulders and pointed to the maid. "She made a mistake and he did not want to forgive her. I do not mind battling over it if he stays true to his words and leaves her be when I win." 

* * *

There it was again. Not only once but _twice_ this commoner assumed that victory was in his palms, believing that Guiche would certainly lose. His patience finally snapped, grabbing his wand the noble pointed it to the ground.

"Heed my call Valkyrie!" after his quick chant a bronze figure appeared from the ground. It looked rather frail the summoned one thought, and the only weapon it had was a lance.

"Louise, step aside. Or rather, stay away. I do not want to hurt anybody when ripping this puppet apart." Ignoring her pleas to cancel this duel the summoned one switched the safety of his weapon on and gave it to Louise. She did not know what the hell he planned to do without his weapon and could only watch as he removed the shield that was mounted his chest plate, holding tight on it with his left hand.

"Are you crazy? You stand no chance without a weapon!"

"Do not take me lightly, Louise. In my world humans almost destroyed the planet. I _know_ the art of battle. Go now, it is not safe to stay around for any longer."

Complying with his wish for her to leave Louise grabbed the weapon in her hand tightly and sent out prayers to the one watching over them. After the summoned one made sure that nobody stood between him and this opponent he smiled behind his helmet. Maybe he could have a greater influence on this world than in the previous one.

Guiche, now finally free to do what he _had_ to do took the iniative and commenced the first attack.

"Valkyrie!" on his call the bronze golem lowered the lance and stormed at the summoned one. The construct was surprisingly fast he had to admit, but not fast enough for him to not be able to react. He held up his shield to confront the lance and with it's attack blocked the golem used its free hand to punch the summoned one in the face. Only that he grabbed the fist midair.

"As I thought, you aren't even compareable in terms of strengh." as the summoned one foresaw the golems inevitable fate he drew the construct closer with his right hand and smashed his shield against it's head. The shield, much sturdier than the bronze golem deformed its form allthough the golem was far from being destroyed. It was a construct controlled by magic after all.

"Do it Valkyrie, pierce him!" on Guiche's shout the golem broke free from his grasp and slashed again with it's lance at him. This time the summoned one did not block. This time the tip of the lance connected with its prey, but instead of a cry of despair a metallic sound could be heard. The lance failed to pierce the armor and as a result the summoned one punched the golem with his right hand causing it to collapse a few meters away from him. The construct was, much to the surprise of the summoned one, light as he had not expected to send it flying. Struggling to stand up again the golem could only watch as its opponent drew closer. The crowd expected many things, but they did no expect Guiche's golem being destroyed by the boot of its opponent as if it were some insect.

The first stomp destroyed its head, the second one dented the upper body and the third one sealed the deal. Unable to stand up again Guiche sensed that he had to do something, otherwise he'd end up as a laughingstock for everyone. With a quick motion of his wand he summoned three more Valkyries that instantly engaged their enemy.

The summoned was not surprised by this, everyone had a ace up his sleeve but he did not expect such a _bad_ ace. Not caring for the attacks of the golems he simply grabbed one of the lances and bashed its head in with his shield before he took aim and threw the lance at another one. The fact that he destroyed both of them simultaneously was pure coincidence. Guiche, who lost his focus, was unable to control the golem with the deformed head properly as the summoned one drew closer and stood still a few meters in front of him.

"I believe you are sane enough to admit defeat." the summoned stared at him as if he was trying to pierce his very soul. On that day, Guiche learned to fear this cursed helmet.

"I ... I lost. I admit defeat." sinking to the ground, the crowd couldn't contain their excitement as they witnessed a miracle.

Not caring for all of this the summoned one took off his helmet and looked down at Guiche. The boy was not rotten to the core, he could see it in his eyes. And he would be damned if he couldn't change him for the better. 

* * *

**That's it for the second chapter folks!**

 **Have to admit that I've underestimated the time needed for writing a whole chapter. I originally planned to release this on Thursday :I**

 **I think it's already revealed that our MC is wearing a power armor and allthough it's kinda OP in this fantasy setting I'll try to make a challenge out of it. Who knows? Maybe it's getting damaged beyond repair someday.**

 **Oh and one thing before I go back to work, it would be extremely awesome and helpful if you could write a review for the fight scene. Or the whole chapter.**

 **That's it, see you on the next one!**


	3. Peaceful Days

On these days nobody would have expected to witness a miracle. A mage could be a fearsome foe, even more so if you had to fight him alone. After his defeat people started to debate if Guiche's magic wasn't that impressive if it could be bested by a mere commoner. This thought was brought down quickly as soon as they realized that this "mere commoner" didn't have any weapons on him, a shield was meant for defense after all.

His armor was remarkable as it was able to withstand a direct hit from a lance without even getting dented, but that's all it was, or so they thought. This ... familiar had strength. The students knew a bit about the capabilities of Guiche's golems because of the demonstrations he ever so loved to boast about. They weren't weak at all and if a normal human had to fight one of these it would mean certain death for him. Let alone if he had to fight _more_ than just one. Was that proof for the inhuman strength this ... man had proven to possess? Someone claimed that he was like a figure of old tales, a hero destined to save a world from chaos. The students weren't dumb enough to believe such a childish thought, even though a seed of doubt remained in their hearts.

* * *

After a couple of moments a girl with long, blonde hair rushed past the summoned one and kneeled next to Guiche. Embracing him her worried look hinted to the two of them being in some kind of relationship, even though he was not sure what to make of it as the last girl Guiche flirted with was another one.

"Oh my poor Guiche ... " while she was trying to comfort the defeated young noble she gave the summoned one a look filled with malice. "Why are you still here? You've got your victory, leave him alone!"

"Calm down Montmorency, my dear." Guiche answered weakly as he had yet to collect his thoughts.

Shrugging his shoulders, not eager to argue with this girl, he mounted his shield back to the chest plate of his armor as he turned his back on them and went on on his way. As he walked away he could hear another girl asking for Guiches well-being, recognizing her as the girl he was spending time with last night. Knowing that _this_ fight would be another certain defeat for Guiche the summoned one smiled as he heard the accusing words of the blonde. He did not take joy in the suffering of others, but sometimes it was simply inevitable.

* * *

The summoned one was in need of knowledge and an academy, even though it was meant for magical education, should provide him with anything his thirsty mind craved for. The so-called "runes" on his left hand provided him with the ability to understand their language, it should not prove too difficult to include the ability to read it as well.

"Hey where are you going?!" Louise, staying true to her name, once again sounded annoyed by the action of her familiar. Was this child always that difficult to handle?

"To the library." turning around he faced her once again. Her "intimidating glance" looked rather funny to him, maybe due to the fact that in his world there were things that could turn a grown man into a crying child. Or that he simply could not take a little girl serious. Proably the letter.

"The library?" Louise expected him to celebrate his victory with alcohol and ... other pleasures. The fact that he had the exact opposite in mind proved that he was not just a brute, and nothing more.

"Never mind that. You fought against a noble, and even worse you _won_." the summoned one simply could not understand how someone could be outraged by a victory. Why was she mad at him?

"A duel settles disputes, I could have killed him if I wanted to."

"Well this is not your world you imbecile!" she shouted at him loud enough for him to frown. "There are rules you have to follow you can't just do whatever you want because your "sense of justice" tells you to act!"

Earning herself an annoyed glance from her familiar Louise could not back down anymore. She had to stand her ground, she was his master and would _not_ yield to something like this.

"Everything you do and everything you say you are doing in _my_ name. I don't care what you think about all of this but there are consequences to your actions. Consequences for _me_. "

"I do not care about your consequences." whatever Louise expected was thorn apart as he boldly declared what he was thinking. "Judging my methods is something I would have no problem with but I will not tolerate unfair treatment if it happens in my presence."

"You ..." clenching her fists Louise had to suppress a few violent urges. "Life is not always fair, your appearance tells me that you are old enough to know that. I don't know what happened in your world but you _must_ adapt to survive." she let out a weak sigh, seemingly disstressed by all of this. The summoned one, interested in what she might be trying to explain, simply watched her as she was collecting her thoughts.

"The common people believe that we nobles live the perfect life, free from sorrow and responsibilities." the pink haired girl said. "We too have obligations and everything we say or do will be judged by others. It will be known that a Valliere and a Garmont had fought. If the worst case comes true this will lead to a war. People will die over something stupid like that. Is that what you want?"

The chosen one, smiling behind his helmet knowing what her plan was, kept silent. He had to admit, if Louise wasn't shouting at him she _could_ be persuasive. At least there was still hope for her. Taking his silence as good news Louise mentally nodded to herself as she entered the Academy with her familiar in tow.

"It would be a pointless slaugher. In order to ... fix our situation we will have to deal with Guiche sooner or later."

"That won't be necessary." her familiar answered in a carefree tone "He's quite the prideful fellow do you really believe that he would share the experience of his defeat?"

"We can't know that for sure" Louise answered without thinking too much about his question "We will talk to him, there is no way out of this" she gazed at the weapon that was still in her hands and gave it to him.  
"You wanted to show me what this ... thing was capable of.

Checking his laser rifle the summoned one frowned behind his helmet. "You switched off the safety Louise. That's the thing that prevents shooting by accident, be careful next time."

"Excuse me for being nervous thinking that you would be beaten to a pulp." she looked away, her face slightly reddened. "There is something else I wanted to ask you."

"I will not pray to you as if you were a goddess"

"That's certainly not what I wanted to ask!" Louise shot back instantly. The summoned one realized how easy it was to manipulate his "master".  
Obligations, expectations and of course pride were things that played those nobles like a fiddle. Guiches downfall was caused by this, there were many ways to resolve their conflict and the young noble chose the worst one because his "honor demanded it".

Louise, finally master of her own emotions again, turned around to him.  
"I do not want to call you "familiar" all the time. So ... what is your name?"

The summoned one, not expecting such a question simply smiled at her.

"You can call me Avon. And I know, it's probably a name you've never heard of before" Louise simply nodded at his prediction and pointed at his weapon. "I guess you should demonstrate what it can do now, Avon."

"Sure" he answered almost happily. "You'll have to give me something to shoot at first"

"Do you have a minute to spare?" The two of them were interrupted by a less-arrogant and yet familiar male voice. It turned out that Guiche was standing since a few minutes in front of them without them noticing him as they were discussing things. Avon, wondering what the noble wanted from them, crossed his arms and gazed at him curiously.

"Is there something you need from us? If this is about our duel you _should_ leave now."

"No it's ... well it kind of is about our duel. But it's not like I want to challenge you again or anything! Certainly not." it was obvious that the noble was troubled by something, Avon thought.

"It's just that ... well if my family ever hears of what happened then ..." Guiche didn't have to complete his sentence for Louise to realize what this was about.

"Forget that it ever happened, I do not wish to cast mischief upon our families either." Guiches eyes widened at her words and looked like as if a heavy burden was taken from him.

"That's certainly a wise decision Valliere!" his happiness didn't last very long as he realized that the very man he had wronged was still standing in front of him. It took a considerable amount of willpower for the prideful Guiche to admit a mistake, but in the end honor won over pride and he held out his hand.

"I want to apologize for my shameful behaviour. Pride took over my mind causing me to rage over a little mistake. "

"Are you sure that I'm the one you should apologize to?"

"If you are talking about the maid, she accepted my apology" his nervous smile indicated that he was extremely uncomfortable remaining in this position.

"Good" Avon thought, "Humility is a virtue after all"

Both of them stood still for a good minute before Avon took his hand, causing the noble to relax a bit as his opposite had accepted his apology.

"So, how did it end?"

"Huh?" Guiches confused gaze proved that he truly did not know what his former enemy wanted to know.

"I heard a second girl asking if you were okay, the one you were flirting with yesterday. I take it your girlfriend did not take it up all too well?"

"That ... I won't even ask why you know of Katy" he let out a weak sigh  
"Montmorency had the wrong impression, Katy was just ..."

"You are pretty dumb, aren't you Guiche?" Avon chuckled at the trouble Guiche was faced with. Karma was still a thing, even in this world.

"I do not want to meddle but you should consider your course of action. Women are scary creatures if angered and trust me, if they want to see you in pain they'll find a way."

"I can vouch for that" Guiche replied "Nevermind my problems, you need some targets to show off your weapon to your master don't you? In that case let me be of use to atone for my sins!"

Before the summoned one could stop him Guiche spawned once again one of his golems. A laser rifle could easily burn flesh and the like but it was less effective against metal.

"Well thanks for that." shaking his head Avon executed a few adjustments on his weapon before he took aim at the golem.

"Take a few steps back, just in case." Both students, just as the summoned one ordered them to, took a few steps back, awaiting the results of this weapon's performance.

The bronze golem with its lack of sentient intelligence did not now what was about to happen, and the moment after Avon pulled the trigger of his weapon a high pitched noise could be heard, followed by a _really_ fast red beam. As they wondered what the hell that was Louise and Guiche looked at the still standing golem, only to notice that the place where it's head should be was covered in molten mass.

* * *

"God damn it, I knew it was too much. Charging it up will be a pain in the ass ..." ignoring the perplexed glances the two of them made Avon let out an annoyed sigh.

Louise had to admit that this so-called "laser rifle" of her familiar was actually impressive. Magic was diverse and could produce the same and even better results but you had to chant a spell in order to get anything done. Time, as Louise thought, was the greatest weakness of a mage after all.

"Well ... I guess there's no shame in losing against someone as powerful as you" Guiche said, with a slight hint of relief in his tone. At least no one would be able to brand him as a weakling. "How does this weapon of yours work?"

"A laser rifle draws energy from a microfusion cell and uses an array of polished focusing crystals to focus light into a single concentrated beam." Avon replied citingly "At least that's what they told me years ago."

"Wait, so you don't know it for sure?" Louise asked baffled.

"I'm pretty sure actually. But even though I can repair minor defects on my own there's no way in hell for me to make something like this. Partly because I can't produce the components."

Louise knew what he was trying to say. Not being able to manufacture spare parts meant that sooner or later his weapon would break, meaning that one of his few advantages he had would be taken away from him. Well, at least the armor seemed to be sturdier.

"Is there anything else? I haven't eaten anything since five days and would like to change that. Death by starvation is an ugly thing." the worried look on her face vanished as fast as it came. She had seen him without his armor and he looked anything but malnourished. But he had a point, her familiar didn't get anything to eat since yesterday.

"I guess we could grab a bite. Is there anything you can't eat?" he _was_ from a different world after all, Louise thought.

"As long as it isn't undercooked or spoiled it should prove no problem. We may be from different worlds, but my people look the same as yours."

"True enough, without your armor nobody would suspect a thing about you." Louise nodded at her own words as if she wanted to convince herself to believe that. Truth be told the girl thought differently about this man.  
He was strong, she knew that. But this very fact was something that would cause trouble in the near future, that was certain.

"Well, I guess I should take my leave now. "Guiche interrupted her from her thought process. "There are a few things I have to take care of"  
"Good luck with that" Avon replied dryly, knowing that the noble would try to convince that blodne girl to forgive him. Guiche brought up a fist to his chest and gave them a quick bow before taking his leave.

* * *

Left alone the two of them went back to the place where the other students spent their time with their familiars or each other. The two of them didn't mind where they would take in their meals, might as well enjoy the good weather as long as it lasted. As soon as Louise took a seat her familiar left his armor and joined her. The armor, still standing even without its wearer, didn't attract any attention. This world was blessed by the power of magic, a standing armor wasn't really impressive.

"We are here to eat, not to wage war" Louise said as she saw that her familiar wasn't fond of the idea to put his weapon away. Even though he told her that his world was destroyed this was absurd. This academy was one of the safest places in Tristain there was simply no need for his paranoia.

"I've lived long enough to know what I have to do and what not." there would be no further discussion about this subject, Avon thought. In his younger years he had been cornered often enough because of that, it was the mistake of youth. Louise, losing her will to argue with his man simply sighed at his stubborness. After a couple of minutes a maid appeared.

Recognizing the maid as the one that caused the duel with Guiche Avon simply smiled at her as she nervously grabbed her apron to keep her hands busy. Realizing that there were things she wanted to say the maid collected her thoughts and bowed to her benefactor.

"Thank you very much for your help!" she knew that he did not have any reason to help her, and even though it meant getting in trouble with a noble he still decided to help her out. It was everything but a minor favour and she had no idea how to repay that one. As she looked up again her savior stood up with a slight hint of discomfort on his face.

"Your gratitude is appreciated but there is no reason for you to bow to me." he said as he held out his hand "You can call me Avon, glad to see that you are fine."

The maid, not used to such a friendly treatment from strangers looked up in confusion. The comforting look on his face seemed to be genuine enough but on the other hand she just didn't know who this Avon really was.

"It's nice to meet you Avon" the maid answered as she took his hand with a smile on her face "I'm Siesta, thank you again for your help"

It took the two of them a moment to retract their hands, long enough for Avon to figure out how this maid thought. The stiffness on her face, the cramped handshake that lasted for a second, she was wary of him that much was obvious. He hated distrust of him like an infected wound even though he knew that one should not trust a stranger because he appeared to be friendly. She was not acting irrational, but knowing that shedding his own blood earned him not even the slightest trace of trust caused his blood to boil. How many times have people turned on him after his task of defeating a monster was done? How many slaves tried to stab him in the back because their greed could not be satisfied by their newly won freedom? Truth be told, there were far too many of them.

Realizing that those thoughts would do him no good Avon simply shook his head in refusal. Those where the old days, he thought. There was no point in ranting over these things now, the people who had wronged him were no more.

Observing the scene Louise simply sighed at their conversation, which in turn earned herself the attention of the maid and her familiar.

"Look, I really don't want to disturb your happy time but I'm _really_ hungry" Louise said as she suppressed her urge to command the maid to actually do her work. It was by any means her right to do so but she was sure that her familiar would become a nuisance because of that, a risk she was not willing to take.

As Siesta asked the two of them what they wanted to eat Avon simply stared perplexed at Louise as she ordered ... something. Even though the runes on his left hand enabled him to understand the language he had no clue what the hell it was that she wanted to eat. It sounded french, but there was no way that this language existed in this world ... right?

At the question what he wanted he simply shrugged his shoulders and said that it would suffice if Siesta brought them two portions of whatever Louise wanted. Nodding at his words the maid turned around and left them alone. Both familiar and master continued the conversation in silence, much to the annoyance of Louise. Observing the girl Avon simply smiled at her. Did she find pleasure in being annoyed? It was of no concern, he thought. There was no need to take action. At least for now.

"You should be grateful" the girl said as she cut through the silence that enveloped the two of them "A familiar is not supposed to share the table with nobles, let alone his master."

"Be assured that I consider it a honor to be allowed to share the same table with a beautiful young lady such as you." Avon mentally nodded at himself as he could observe the effect of his words.

Louise, with a slightly reddened face, murmured a few words before looking away to calm herself. The time she spent in this academy were lonely ones and the only thing people called her was "Zero". To be considered as beautiful was ... a new experience, compared with the rest a rather good one.

"I ... forgot to mention this, but an exhibition will be held in honor for the princess of this country. We've got four days to come up with something to impress both the princess and the other students." Louise once again got a concerned look on her face. It was obvious that this matter had troubled her for quite some time. "Do you have any idea?"

"You ask someone who had to deal with death on a daily basis what he can do to impress someone?" he simply chuckled at her words, amused that such a trivial matter even had to be discussed. "You wittnessed my fight with Guiche and you know about my laser rifle. My fights aren't supposed to be marvelous."

"True enough ..." Louise said more to herself than to her familiar "Couldn't you just demonstrate the power of your weapon? It was able to melt the head of a golem after all."

"I could" her familiar replied "but do consider that it takes an enormous amount of energy to accomplish that. A single shot with that much power renders the weapon useless until I charge it up again which takes about ten minutes." Talking about it he noticed that he had forgotten to do it, so he grabbed his weapon and started the charging process.

"Which means that we can either bet on a single shot or look for something different." she sighed as she realized that this problem wouldn't be solved as fast as she would have liked it to. Why was it that even though her familiar was so powerful she had no idea what to demonstrate at the exhibition? It was truly frustrating.

"We've got four days" she proclaimed "We'll come up with something, in the meantime we'll get you a second weapon. I guess if you already have a shield you should have a sword too."

Her familiar simply shrugged his shoulders. Close combat wasn't a problem for him, even without a melee weapon. And even though he was no swordsman the thought that any weapon was better than nothing was rational enough, so he didn't refuse her "offer".

Discussing these things took some of their time, enough for the maid to return with their meals. Overjoyed that he _finally_ got something to eat he was greeted by the worst enemy a hungry person could think of. What he looked at was some kind of fancy meat you could eat in a restaurant that would cost a normal person his entire monthly wage. As if to mock him the cook placed a few small potatoes on the plate, together with a bit of a salad and some kind of brown sauce. It looked fancy, it smelled fancy and gods be damned it was _tiny_. It was no wonder that Louise was so small, the familair thought, who the hell could grow up with these meals?!  
Siesta, simply bowing and oblivious to the distaste Avon felt about his meal, left them once again.

It took them ten minutes to finish their meals, and in contrast to Louise, who apparently savored every bite, her familair almost refused to eat this mockery of a meal.

"We will leave the academy tomorrow morning, as soon as the sun rises. I have a few things to take care of so do whatever you want for today." Louise said as she stood up from her chair. "Don't cause me any troubles okay?"

Avon simply nodded as an answer and watched her as she left him alone. He had a whole day at his disposal to do ... what exactly? Without apparent danger there was little that could occupy him to keep him busy for the whole day and the thought to simply lean against a tree and doze off made him smile.

"Might as well enjoy it while it lasts" Avon said as he stood up and entered his power armor. Putting on his helmet and grabbing the laser rifle he began his heroic quest to find a suitable tree. 

* * *

**AN: A few things I'd like to mention:**

 **1\. I really really really hope that nobody has read this one yet because I noticed a major flaw in the end afterwards.  
**  
 **2\. Writing after work proves to be difficult, mostly because I'm tired as hell. I'd like to upload short chapters (like the second and this one) instead of writing endlessly and uploading it after 3 months (note that I'm exaggerating to clarify what I mean). Tell me your thoughts on this one. Pretty please.**

 **3\. I love to write dialogues but at this point I have to ask myself (and you!) if there are too many of them. Is the amount acceptable? Do we need more?**

 **Do I have anything else? Hm ... nope that's it! See you on the next one.**


	4. Another Kind of Trouble

There were things in life that no man could predict. One could plan ahead and prepare for his future but in the end it would amount to nothing if fate decided that he or she was at the wrong time at the wrong place. Man, as a single individual, could easily be brought to ruin. A single encounter with the wrong person would suffice to eradicate someone. Some People viewed misfortune as something that nobody could evade, it was part of life and part of one's own destiny. Avon certainly did not believe in something like fate. Every action he took and everything that had happened to him or others was the result of a certain action. Nevertheless there was something he could not explain and as he grabbed his laser rifle there was but a single thought on his mind; "A god damn dragon ..."

* * *

After Louise had left him Avon started to wander through the place. Spending half of his life in a world that continually tried to torture and/or to kill him the memories of the old world, of the time before the atomic fire and monsters, began to fade away. On a rational point of view those memories held no value. Weapons ensured one's own survival and not some fancy memories of the past, but they sure enough had pushed him to his utmost limits more than just once. In his everlasting fight those very memories urged him to rise again and again every time he fell. Not because he was too stubborn to die and especially not because he sought the hero's death. Dying was an ugly matter and if possible something he'd like to avoid. No, the reason was much simpler. His memories of the past, so unbelievably beautiful ... he yearned for them. And in order to bring those memories back to reality he had started his own crusade long ago. Back then it didn't matter to him for how long his fight had to last. He would endure it, as he always did.

Noticing that he started to revel in memories Avon sighed faintly. It was a dangerous habbit which he simply could not get rid of. The last time a bitter-sweet memorie got the better of him a death claw managed to get near him. Granted, he _did_ hide in a ruin to spend the night there and to evade potential enemies but still it was a grave mistake which could have costed him his life. The only thing that stood between him and certain death was his trusty power armor and even though its protection was good the fight proceeded everything else than in his favor. You don't call a creature "death claw" for nothing.

Focusing his gaze on his surroundings he realized that he had to be on the other side of the academy. Except for a few trees here and there he couldn't spot anything or anyone else which was perfect because nobody would be able to come near him undetected. Upon arriving at one of those trees Avon left his power armor, overjoyed that he once again got the chance to free himself of his cage. He cared little for comfort and the like but every now and then the urge to get rid of the weight of his armor was too much to bear.  
It was an insignificant task, but everything that helped him to retain his sanity was a necessity. A thought crossed his mind the moment he took a seat on the ground, was it truly a wise decision to expose himself like that? Granted, those "mages" in this academy didn't strike him as a real threat but even a group of dogs could kill a man simply by outnumbering him. At least if he wasn't wearing a power armor which was the case right now.

Shaking his head lightly he dismissed that thought. If anybody dared to attack him while he was "vulnerable" he would simply take care of the problem. Leaning himself against the tree he crossed his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. There were so many things he had to learn about this world but right now ... right now he would simply enjoy it to its fullest.

Steps, the first thing he heard after he closed his eyes were steps. Avon didn't get any sleep at all and the fact that once again something interrupted him from taking a break didn't do much good to his mood. Opening his eyes he spotted a bald man with glasses wearing a violet robe. The wooden staff in his hand was kept simple in design, with its 3 red stripes there were no other decorations on it. For a brief moment Avon wondered why the hell this man was in need of a walking stick as he apparently wasn't even in his fifties. It took him a few moments to realise who this man, who now stood before him, actually was.

"Colbert, right? Do you need anything from me?" Avon didn't bother with standig up, there was simply no point in doing it. The older man seemed not to care that his position was being ignored and simply observed the standing power armor.

"Well, I do admit that I came with a few questions if you don't mind." the professor smiled as he acknowledged that he didn't have the slightest idea what he was staring at. Jean Colbert was man of knowledge. He consumed history books like a regulary meal and probed his mind with many inventions. But even with his comprehensive knowledge he could not explain what this type of armor was. Sure, it was meant for protection but it also looked like it weighted a _ton_. No man would be able to move in something like this unless ... magic was used.

"I'll answer three of them, and after that I wish to be left alone." it wasn't that he despiced this man he simply felt exhausted. It was the perfect opportunity to regain his strength, and he would not give it up because of the curiosity of someone.

"I should choose my questions carefully then" the professor answered with an amused tone in his voice. "The first one, what is your name?"

"Avon" the familiar replied "You are waisting your chances, professor"

"Oh, I don't think so" the bald man replied with a smile on his face "The second one, where exactly did you come from?"

"From another world not comparable with this one" the familiar was sure that the last question would be about the armor. The mage couldn't deny the curiosity on his face even if he wanted to.

"Alright then, the last one" professor Colbert fixed his gaze on the younger man on the ground as if to evaluate what to think of him "Do you regret it that you were brought into our world?"

Not expecting something like that Avon simply shrugged his shoulders "I guess not. My world was filled with malice and destruction. I don't know anything about this place, but you have grass and trees. That's enough for me."

The professor, seemingly in thoughts simply nodded "That was very informative, thank you for your time. If you ever have some time to spare do visit me in my laboratory, I'd be glad to know more about this world of yours."

Noticing that the professor was looking at the runes on his left hand Avon wondered what they actually meant. Sure, Louise had told him that they were proof that he was her familiar, but they had to have a meaning. Avon couldn't imagine walking around with the word "familiar" on his left hand.

"Well, I guess I should take my leave now." the professor interrupted him from his thoughts as he put on a smile again "I wish you a good day, Avon."

"Likewise, Colbert" Avon kept his answer short as he tried to remember the last time someone had given him words of goodwill instead of a bullet. Sure, there were enough people who were genuinly thankful for everything he did but it was hard to keep that in mind when many others tried to murder you because they felt like it. Shrugging his shoulders he simply banished these useless thoughts from his mind and closed his eyes again. Surerly this time nobody would deny him his well deserved rest.

Never has he been so wrong.

* * *

In an abandoned warehouse, in the midst of nowhere there was a single man hiding behind a large pile of rubble. The only weapon in his possession was a combat knife with a broken tip.

"Puny human. Always running from Jack. Hate that!" The deep voice he could hear belonged to a monstrosity he had never seen before. A quick look revealed that he was a humanoid ... _something_. Apart from the fact that his skin was green and easily three meters tall he looked like he could rip people apart without any efforts at all. Or smash them to tiny bits, as he was carrying a sledgehammer around.

"Holy shit ... come on Avon, you've had worse" he whispered as if to encourage himself. Turning his gaze back to his broken knife he smiled as he realised that the odds weren't in his favor. Avon had to get of here, that much was certain. He could make a run for it but the abilities of this ... mutant were unknown to him. Not risking everything on one move he picked up a stone and threw it in the direction of Jack.

"No running away!" the mutant yelled and with a satisfied smile on his face Avon listened to the stomping of Jack. What he didn't expect was the sheer brutality of the mutant. As soon as he realised that his prey was nowhere to be found he started to destroy a few crates in his fury.

"Gha! Always hiding! Always running away! Come out and Jack kill you!"

Considering his options Avon sneaked away from the pile of rubble as the mutant was closing in to his position. There was no way he would fight the mutant with a broken knife and simply running wouldn't keep him alive for long, the best course of action was to take it slow and sneak out of the building. A good fifty meters ahead he could spot an emergency exit, there was no way he would die because of such a short distance ... right?

The illusion of his escape urged him to move faster. After he finally arrived at the door a quick look told him that the mutant was still searching for him, and had no chance to do what he planned to do. Gripping the handle of the door Avon pushed it open and the joy of knowing that he had survived this unlucky encounter turned into bitter frustration. In front of him stood the very same mutant he had evaded earlier and instead of words he was greeted by a sledgehammer.

The evil grin of the mutant burned itself into his mind and the only thing he felt as the mutant bashed his head in was pure hatred for this creature.

Opening his eyes once more Avon realised that he was not dead. There was no green mutant nor was he in a wharehouse which meant that a few bad memories had made their way back into his mind. Feeling even more exhausted than before he let out a weak sigh. He could handle whatever the world threw at him but in his dreams he was as helpless as a newborn.

"I fucking killed those bastards and they still haunt me ..." as he murmured those words Avon turned his head to the right. It wouldn't have been a surprise for him if suddenly a few knifes or bullets tore themselves through him simply because he had already experienced something like that, but to be looked at by a blue _dragon_ was something new.

The beast, with its emerald green eyes, gazed at him as if he were some sort of curiosity. Moving by instinct Avon picked up his laser rifle and threw himself away from the monster in order to gain a little bit of distance. The dragon simply observed as he stood up and took aim.

Avon threw a quick glance at his power armor, he _could_ try to enter it which would increase his chances against this beast significantly but on the other hand was the possibility that the dragon would tear him apart while doing so. Unsure which action he should take the stalemate continued.

The beast, to his surprise, didn't look menancing at all. If he were a little bit less wary he'd say that it looked like an oversized pet. With claws. And wings. But nontheless it was big. Avon estimated that it was approximately four meters tall while standing on four legs and everything that was larger than him was a potential threat to his live.

"As if Cazadors weren't enough I even have to deal with dragons now ... " shuddering at the thought of these monstrosities Avon recalled a few painfull memories of the times when he didn't have his power armor. The sting of those beasts hurt like hell and their poison was as deadly as it could be.

In his long journey he never found out where the hell those things came from, but the image of them never left his mind. Looking like a crossbreed between a tarantula, wasp and a butterfly the cazador was as deadly as it looked like. With four orange wings, a dark blueish carapace and blood-red eyes it was the nightmare of basically every human being.

Shifting his mind back to his current situation Avon slowly approached his power armor. A head on fight without his only means of protection was possible but one wrong move and everything was over. The risk was simply too high. He had to admit though, this was the first time that he had encountered a beast that didn't attack him instantly. A mistake it would regret in a few moments.

In a quick motion Avon opened his power armor and threw his weapon in the air before jumping right in. Enveloped by the technology the humans of his world had produced, at least in their prime, Avon merely smiled behind his helmet as he caught his laser rifle mid air with a precision only a machine could possess. As he took aim to end this meaningless encounter the dragon turned its head sideways. Following its gaze he saw a blue-haired girl carrying a rather oversized wand, assuming that she was one of the students as she was wearing one of these black capes.  
The fact that she was going in their direction didn't exactly help Avon in this fight.

Not knowing why she seemed to be calm enough to not freak out even though there was a damn dragon in front of her Avon stepped slowly sideways and put himself between the girl and the dragon.

"What are you doing?" the girl said in an uninterested voice as she approached him.

"Regretting that I was summoned to get through bullshit like this. You?" he replied. Sensing that his current situation seemed to be some sort of misunderstanding he lowered his weapon but still kept his eyes on the beast in front of him. Not caring for his sarcasm the girl simply passed him and stopped in front of the dragon, which lowered its head to be petted by the blue-haired girl.

"Sylphid is my familiar" the girl said which in turn had earned her a doubting look from Avon which, of course thanks to his helmet, she could not see.

"Fine then" he proclaimed "I've had bad experiences with anything thats taller than I am so do me a favor and keep your Sylphid away from me."  
Not waiting for her reply Avon took his leave and left the girl with her dragon behind.

The reason why he had left her was simple, there was nothing to gain from staying any longer. The eyes of the girl seemed to view everything as insignificant, or rather, there was nothing that concerned her at all. Or in short, she was someone he did not want to spend his time with.  
As his little journey continued , even though he had yet to find his destination, Avon passed quite a few people on his way back into the huge building. Their glances didn't bother him at all and since nobody tried to get in his way he didn't bother them.

* * *

Arriving in one of these long corridors that were illuminated with those fancy magic crystals, at least at night, Avon merely watched as a green-haired woman left the room to his right and shut the door close.

Their gazes met each other and as she realised that he was a stranger the woman put on a smile on her face as if it would help her in any way.

"I don't think that I've ever seen you before, do you mind if I ask who you are?"

The glasses she was wearing gave her appearance, even though she seemed pretty young, a rather mature look Avon thought. And if his memory served him right she was wearing the same clothes as Colbert, the only difference was that she had a purple cape. Avon could neither deduce what her role in this academy was nor was it interesting enough to find out, which meant that she was of no interest to him.

"You can call me Avon. I'm supposed to be Louise's sla ... familiar." Avon really didn't want to have to introduce himself every time some stranger asked him who he was but given his current situation it couldn't be helped. The annoyed tone in his voice was obvious though.

"Looks like I am not the first one you had to introduce yourself to Avon.  
So Zer - erm, I mean Louise really did get a familiar of her own? Looks like my worries were unjustified after all." the woman said in a rather cheerful voice as if to distract him from the fact that she called his master Zero.

"Well, I guess all is well that ends well. Where is she anyway? She really shouldn't let you wander around on your own, you don't even know your ways around the academy, don't you?"

"I know enough in order to not get lost." he replied dryly "Although I don't know where your library is."

"Oh, if it's just that then you are quite fortunate." the woman said as she pointed at a wooden double door Avon has already passed on his way.

As he turned around to look at the doors he realised that there was a sign above them. He couldn't translate what was written on it but given the fact that this woman told him that it was the library he had at least some kind of clue how letters in this country looked like. He had to admit though, those letters that seemingly made up the word "library" were quite similiar to each other. Well, given enough time he was sure to be able to translate it anyway.

"Well, it was nice to meet you Avon. Be careful to not disturb the other students in there, alright?"

Avon simply nodded as she briefly smiled at him before turning around and going in the direction where he came from. Not wasting any more time he opened the door she had pointed at and entered the room. The smell of old books enveloped his surroundings. Whatever expectations he had were surpassed quite easily by the tremendous amount of books that were stored in here. The library was equipped with a few tables and chairs, probably for students who wanted to study in silence but apart from that there was nothing but bookshelves, containing all the knowledge of the academy.

Not very selective in his choice he picked up a book that was lying on one of those tables, he guessed that one of the students had forgotten to return it to where it belonged to. There was no illustration on the front cover and since he wasn't able to read the title he had no idea which information it contained. Not that he could get a hold of those informations anyway. Opening the book in the middle his eyes scanned the written words through the visor of his helmet.

"Looks like it won't be that easy."

Uncertain as to how many hours had passed since he arrived in the library that was the only thing he came to conclude. Returning the book to the place he had found it before Avon noticed that not a single soul was to be found here. It was strange, weren't those people supposed to learn ... _something_?. It had probably to do with the fact that he hadn't noticed the students who tried to avoid him as he was trying to get a grasp of this new language, an attempt which resulted in utter failure.

He would have to ask someone for help regarding this matter. Louise popped up in his mind for a brief moment, but he couldn't believe that she would have the patience of a teacher, which was needed in order for him to make progress.

Shrugging his shoulders Avon left the library. It wasn't that not being able to read was a real emergency. Reading wasn't an important factor for survival, if he'd have to guess it would be because the inability to do so was irritating him on a personal level.

In his old world people would call him an idiot for spending time on such a trivial matter since every hour that was not spent on finding food, shelter or materials to work with was a lost one. And they were right to do so since ressources were scarce and enemies everywhere. Casting those thoughts aside Avon finally realised that it was nighttime the moment he passed one of the big windows to his left. Shaking his head in disbelief at the fact that he had wasted so much daylight without producing any results he simply walked and walked. The sound of silence, something he appreciated and hated at the same time, followed him until he took a corner and ... was greeted by the stare of a fire salamander that was already well known to him. The fire salamander, ignorant of the fact that a laser rifle was pointed at him, simply continued to stare until he suddenly turned around and moved a few meters away. As the salamander stopped and turned its head to Avon he realised that it probably wanted him to follow.

"Just so we are clear" he proclaimed as he started to walk towards the creature, which in turn got into motion again "I've eaten things that barely resemble food. You won't be a problem" The fire salamander, simply ignoring that threat, continued to walk for at least five more minutes until it stopped in front of a door. Avon recognized that part of the building as the place where those students had their rooms. Not because he gathered that information somehwere, it was mainly because everything looked exactly the same as the place where Louise was. Well, he had already guessed that this salamander would lead him to the red haired vixen anyway. The salamander scratched at the wooden door as if to encourage him to open it and after a short sigh and a few knocks later he did what he was supposed to do and opened the door. His regret came shortly after.

Avon didn't really know what to expect in this kind of situation, but to be greeted by a red haired woman in her nightgown on top of a bed was definetly not something he would have ever expected. Her seductive smile quickly changed to an expression of surprise and now both parties didn't get what they were expecting. The salamander simply walked into the room and vanished under the bed.

"Lets make this quick. What do you want?" he said after sighing mentally. Kirche, as he recalled her name, stood up and walked slowly towards him while showing off her hips that where rather on the well developed side. The fact that her nightgown layed emphasis on her breasts even though they weren't in need of that was something he couldn't ignore. Not that Kirche was able to notice that since he was wearing his helmet.

Their height difference forced the red haired woman to look up to him but she seemed to not care about that since that meant that she score a few points with her other assets.

"Well ... you kind of surprised me with your appearance. I didn't think that you would be wearing your armor at night" she said with with a humored smile on her face "Don't you sleep at all my dear knight?"

Avon, trying to process what was happening, took his helmet off which in turn revealed an annoyed expression on his face.

"Not if someone sends an overgrown salamander after me. What do you want Kirche?

Kirche put on her seductive smile again and started to caress his left cheek as she lowered her voice.

"I must have left a good impression for you to remember my name. And as for what I want ..."

This whole conversation was pointless since Avon already knew what she was going to say. Or rather what she was going to try. The wasteland had produced many things but even then humans were what Avon was wary of the most. The destruction of infrastructure and human society was like a spark that kindled evil in peoples hearts. Countless years of evolution were reduced to the behaviour of an animal, giving in to their urges without a second thought.

It was the survival of the fittest all over again and those who were unlucky enough to be the victims of the strong suffered until their tormentors had enough of them. Avon remembered his first encounter with the Devil's Sons. People who had abandoned what made them human and just lived to satisfy their own needs and urges. He remembered the men they had tortured to death and later on eaten. He remembered the women, naked and caged only to be violated later on by those animals.

And all of them had that sign of madness in their eyes as if their greed for lust could never be satisfied. Faithful slaves to their needs like that red haired woman in front of him.

"Of all the things you could have done you chose to disappoint me. he said as he brushed her hand off of his cheek. Kirche, not knowing why her seduction had failed, simply watched him as he turned around and made a step forward only to be met by the stare of his pink haired master. Louise, dumbfoundedly standing in the corridor, simply couldn't understand _what_ was actually going on right now. Kirche shifted gears and put on a smile again. She had to admit that the armored man in front of her was a bit tricky but Louise was another thing.

"I hope to see you again very soon, my dear knight" she proclaimed as she closed the door and awaited the tantrum of Louise which was sure to follow up. At least some satisfaction would please her this night, and as for the rest ... well it wasn't as if she was deprived of options.

Louise, irritated by the silence of her familiar, clicked her tongue in annoyance as she put her hands on her hips. Avon, who could not understand how someone could see problems where there were none, simply walked past her earning himself the fury of the little girl that followed him.

"If you want to throw a tantrum because I've exchanged a few words with your archnemesis look for someone who cares."

"Of course I'd be angry about that!" she immediately shot back "Of all the students in this academy you just had to choose her didn't you? What kind of mockery is this supposed to be?!"

Realizing that he had to do something about her frail pride Avon sighed as they walked through the corridor. Girls in their teens were certainly exhausting to deal with.

"I was in the library before her overgrown lizard got in my way and because I knew that she wouldn't leave me alone I've followed that salamander to her room to make it clear."

"Why did she call you "my dear knight" then? Or that she wants to see you again?"

Avon shot her a glance in utter disbelief. How naive could this girl actually be?

"She did it in order to provoke you. And while she seems to be the only one to scorn you publicly the rest of those kids probably are doing the same behind your back. Or is "Zero" a nickname you've been enjoying to have?"

"... do not call me by that name"

Louise was surely a young woman with a short temper and most likely not the friendliest to have around and she knew that. The mockery of her fellow students meant nothing to her, at least not now. She had learned to ignore their spiteful words and instead concentrated on her studies in order to prove her worth as a mage. Not that it was going well in that regard but she was still young and every failure she had to endure would bring her closer to her goal.

The actual problem was that red haired vixen. She, for better or for worse, was the only one who could shatter her usually calm demeanor. The burning hatred she felt for that woman made her only feel worse about the fact that even her own familiar had called her "Zero" like the rest of those imbeciles. That was not something she would forgive easily, for if she couldn't stop Kirche and the others forcefully at least her familiar would learn to give her the respect she deserved.

"My original world was filled with malice and despair" Louise looked up to him wondering which excuse he would use in order to justify his shameless behaviour towards her " I've seen kids in cages to be tortured with methods you can't even imagine. People muredered each other for a damn bottle of water because it was so scarce. Acts of cannibalism because there was no food around. I've seen the end of civilization and lived through the end of the world as we knew it. I've lost everything Louise. Everything that was dear to me was taken away either by other humans, living corpses or monstrosities that had spawned since the end of the world."

The girl fell silent after he had finished his speech and soon after they were standing in front of her room. Louise couldn't explain why but she could sense that he was telling her the truth. As if through the bond between them she was overwhelmed by the emotions he had to deal with right now. Fury, sorrow, bitterness and disappointment made their way into her mind, far too much for a girl like herself to handle.

"You suffer because your strength is insufficient. Humans in general are weak, thats why we form groups. Tell me Louise, which group do you belong to if you alone can't defeat the evil that plagues you?"

The numbness she felt during a short amount of time stopped after he had started to talk again. All the emotions Louise was sure to sense from him simply vanished into tin air and all she could feel right now was emptiness. Partly because she knew that he was right, but most of all because it was depressing to _admit_ it.

"... none"

"That's right Louise. Theres is not a single person on these grounds you could call an ally. Be it because of your short temper or the fact that you willingly seclude yourself into your own world, it doesn't matter."

"It does not matter? My efforts to show these imbeciles that I'm not worthless trash does not matter?!" she suddenly lashed out at him drawing her wand with her right hand and pointing it at him. Whatever sympathy was left within her had vanished the moment he had started to insult everything she had done until now to be acknowlegded as a mage.

"Not only have you dared to treat me worse than those imbeciles I have to call my fellow students and now you are lecturing me as if you knew everything about me! I've had enough of your disrespectful behaviour. I am your master and you _will_ obey every command that you receive from me from now on is that clear?"

"My fate is my own and even your little magic stick isn't going to change that Louise"

"This is the final warning you'll receive from me! Don't force my hand!"

Her familiar stared briefly into her eyes before raising his hand. Interpreting it as another act of defiance Louise gatherd her resolve, it was her mistake that she would have to go this far. If she would have been more strict with him from the beginning all of this wouldn't have happend, but that was of no importance right now. She would discipline him until he was a proper familiar and if force was needed then so be it.

"Explosion!"

Mana flowed through her body into her wand, followed by an explosion directed at her familiar. It was a drastic measure and the only solution her mind could come up with right now. A black smokescreen blocked her line of vision and as she was waiting for the smoke to disappear she could hear the sound of heavy footsteps moving away from her.

"Farewell Louise. I truly hope that you will find what you are seeking in life, for I will not be there to witness it." 

* * *

**AN: One of my reviewers complained that he is not satisfied with how I'm handling a Fallout/ZnT crossover. Let me tell you again that this is my first story and that I'm borrowing certain elements of the game/anime in order to write this fanfic. The MC is an original character and even though I'll mention the master, super mutants and other aspects of the fallout franchise I am not sticking to the story you already know.**

 **In short: The MCs background is influenced by fallout-ish things like muties and death claws, but the actual storyline of his former world is different. Please deal with it.**


End file.
